Monday, November 23, 2009

L.O. 3c: Applying Preston/Disney Principles to my SB sketches

I gave Kali a layout lesson yesterday. Here's just the first drawing I did. It came from this rough below. The first thing I did was block everything out real roughly to make sure I had the line of action and big negative spaces between the main parts of the action- between his body foot and dresser.Like everyone does, I toned it down a bit, but now that it's all constructed I could easily go back and push the foot and eyes a little more like the rough.The Focus of the pose: THE FOOT PUSHING THE DRAWER IN.The whole pose is made to highlight this action.

His body leans back. I used a line of action to do that.Second in importance to the physical action in the drawing, is his reaction to it. His feeling. His personality. That takes place mostly in the face.

I AVOIDED A CRAMPED FACE

Note how I left space between all the important major elements of his face:The eyes.The noseThe mouthSome people tend to push all the features together where they get cramped and hard to read.

THE EYES ARE CHEATED FOR EFFECT

Looking at the lucky accident in the rough-where the eye that is further away from us is bigger (which is wrong perspective) I used that to enhance the expression.

I made sure the rest of his head and face were in solid construction and perspective, and then gave the eyes cartoon license. I overlapped the farther away eye over the close eye. This exaggerates the impression that the eyes are looking back at us, opposite to his body pose which is facing the dresser.

If I broke the rules all over the drawing and made nothing logical, you wouldn't be drawn to the eyes because nothing would make sense.

NEGATIVE SPACES FOR SILHOUETTE

To help read the face against the arm I made sure that there was a clear silhouette to the edge of the face. Some shapes push out (muzzle and nose), some indent in - the eye mask area. This indented eye mask area helps him look smug. It helps pull his eye brows up.

HOW CHEEKS AND SMILES WORK TOGETHER

Note that the smile line and cheek line above create a shape (in yellow). The smile is pushing the meat of his cheek up, squeezing the area between. Note also the soft angles curving around the cheek/face area. It isn't a simple circular curve or half oval.

CONSTRUCT HAND SHAPES BEFORE DRAWING FINGERS

His fingers are not doing anything so I keep them contained within the shape of the hand.For organic pseudo-realism, I made the fingers converge towards each other at bottom, rather than be parallel sausages.The other hand is just hanging back and those fingers "splay". They aim very slightly apart, also for organicness.I put weight on the foot on the ground by bending the knee and having the lower part of the leg overlap the top of the foot.Also, the top of the foot bulges upwards in the middle, while the bottom part is being squashed flat against the ground.

I kept the toenails compressed together so as not to compete for attention with the other foot that is closing the drawer.

Note the shape created by the space between his foot and arm (in red). It's diagonal, which helps draw attention to the fact that the foot is pushing forward of the body. If the hand had been posed right on top of the foot, it would have eaten away at the focus of the whole pose.

All this is logic and control and is what separates functional drawings from elaborate fancy ass sketchbook doodles.

In order to get functional, you have to do lots and lots of thoughtful planned drawings (as opposed to random doodling in your sketchbooks). Not just one every couple weeks. It's not enough to think you understand the concepts. You have to apply them to make them sink in and eventually become second nature.

Later, I will show you Kali's first try at doing a layout from the scene, my corrections and comments and then her 2nd try where she fixes everything and makes the pose stronger.

OK?

Hey, I have a question. How many people who read the blog are here for the drawing tips?

To be honest, I read the blog for more than the drawing tips. I also come to grab images to draw from, but the tips are really helpful. Helps me understand what I'm missing in my work. Even if some of the tips are repeated, it helps re-inforce that idea.

I am generally, I like how you breakdown the poses and drawings and try to apply that to what I make. I do Enjoy all the other things you have to say though they are very interesting coming from someone who was there and did all that.

i follow for the amount of knowledge you share. although your drawing tips are very much appreciated and taken into consideration. I was hoping youd be a at the CTN convention (which I thought was great). Maybe next year....

I gotta say I am here, first and foremost, for the drawing tips (and color tips, etc.). This is stuff I need to stay mindful of for my own study.

Having said that, I greatly appreciate the blog as a whole. I am also a big fan of the humor; links to classic cartoons, comics and illustration; the social analysis and commentary; and the intermittent movie review. This is the greatest site on the interwebs.

By the way, something which has nothing to do the with the post..what do you think of Udetzo's style on Asterix? Is he a model to follow? I'm a very big fan of his work, but I'd like to know your point of view before I begin drawing his stuff over and over again..

Another subject that I'd really would like you to comment someday is the dubbing- how do you recognize quality dubbing, or how do you know the director controls the voice contrasts on dubbers. Obviously I'm not asking you to do something obvious like comparing Bruce Willis in Over the Hedge with Mel Blanc in Looney Tunes.Just trying to teach my hearing on toons...

G'day John, Yeah I come for drawing tips and also to laugh and have a good time!

Awesome post!! It is great to know how to accentuate expressions and actions and to know what things in a drawing do these things... since I've been reading your blog I've learnt a bucketload of stuff... I hope it's all sinking into my thick skull! hehehe

I'm here for the drawing tips, especially today's that clarified the spaces between Kaspar's face. Subtle things that habit skips over. Although recently, I don't look like a student here.

There's also other insights like the old cartoon days, how cartoons evolved, (and decayed!) the true challenges of being an animator, what live action movies should be studied and why, how to hold a chainsaw, etc.

I'm here mainly for the drawing education - it's much more than "tips". I've learned so much more here than I learned from any of the famous how-to animation books (including even Preston Blair, because I didn't know how to study it until you showed us). I feel so lucky to have found this blog - just after you started it. I know you're not doing it for me; I don't expect to get good enough for you professionally at my age. So I'm just practicing away at my own pace, grateful that you have students like Kali and the other Cartoon College students that you are taking the time and care to teach.

I also enjoy this blog for your general take on things, which is always unexpected and refreshing, though different than my own, because you are so clear and specific about your opinions.

I am. I love your lessons and your point of view regarding cartoons. I've always liked to draw, but never had any formal training, and I've always dreamed to become an animator, so it's really helpfulIf you think to turn the blog into a pay site, can you at least leave the older posts free to everyone? This blog is amazing.

I'm here for drawing tips but I only get an answer to a question once every blue moon, and usually by people I didn't ask, so I'm trying to use the Famous artists cartoon course to get a better grasp on all that your talking about but my understanding of this just keeps coming in and out of it all. I'll follow this in email in case you reply.

I'm here because of everything. the drawing tips, advice, and the lessons. I have been reading more from the Preson Blair book now since I found this blog. My drawings are more solid , and I'm understanding more of the cartoon principles.. Thanks for everything.

I love your drawing tips and get super stoked when you have posts like this. I try applying these tips to my personal and professional endeavors. Hopefully soon I will have more time to practice and post my studies. I badly want to get into your your cartoon college.

Hey, I'm here for the drawing and all that. I like everything about the blog. Being a self-trained midtime animator/drawer/voice actor/... On and a huge R+S fan! I find this very useful.

I REALLY like the fact that it's free. I understand that all those "Thanks" don't pay the bills, and it wouldn't be fair for you to put so much time into it, but PLEASE do it for as long as you can. Maybe don't post so often?

I can promise you two things:

1) From here on, my work will always have a "thank you" note.

2) When and if I get rich, I will build a "John K. Statue" or something like that... xD

I frequent this blog for your drawing tips, and also for introducing me to cartoons and cartoonists I would not have discovered on my own (e.g. Milton Gross, Bobby Clampett, Jiminy Smith). And you're just funny. I'm part of the new generation of kids, so I never had a chance to appreciate these gems myself. I wish you were my teacher. Actually, you pracically are, through this blog.

I read it for drawing tips and beacuse it motivates me to get trough this demanding danish animation education. This all makes sence and probebly keep young animators away from flat ugly cut out looking results.

I'm here to see your funny drawings, not so much for the tips. I am fascinated by cartoons and love to see some "behind-the-scenes" stuff on here, so the tips are a bonus. I mess around with a comic strip once in a while, and see lots of silly mistakes I make now that I've been following this blog for a bit.

I'm here for the drawing tips! I don't have time to keep up with all the lessons, but I come here daily, and try to apply the steps and lessons to my own work. I hope to catch up with the rest of them soon.

I'm here for the drawing tips! The history and tips on avoiding or improving the middle meddlers situation is also important. I think that perspective has real value in improving how creative ideas can flourish in stale environments. The fact that your screaming in cartoon language makes it easier for some middle meddlers to swallow or at least safer to show them your cartoons about the problem. The recent chainsaw story should be taught and thoroughly analyzed at Wharton.

I'm here for the tips, tutorials, and weird toys, a tradition that started with Yogi With Man Hands. I have trouble implementing the tips/tutorials, but I really think they helped change at least the way I approach drawing.

I'm here for the drawing tips. I'm a freelance cartoonist doing three cartoons a week for a chain of weeklies. Being a fan of "Ren and Stimpy," I stumbled on this site -- and realized how much better my work could be. I came for the laughs and stayed for the lessons.